The Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA)

Overview of Legislation Women it seems have always had to fight for their rights, whether it is their right to vote or work. Most recently, women have had to fight for the right to do what they will with their bodies and their sexual reproductive rights. Though abortion is legal, from the late 90’s and early 2000’s, there has been a decrease in the accessibility for women to have a safe abortion done by a medical professional (113th Congress, 2013). Due to the ever-growing rate of illegal abortion procedures, there have been medical complications that result in the death of women. About 5-10,000 women have died from illegal abortions due to the improper care prior to, during, and after a procedure has been done; legalizing abortion would
This bill focuses on the ability for woman to receive safe and legal abortions, and tackles the prohibition of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (Trap) laws (Benen, 2013). This act dismisses any regulations that interfere with women’s right to have access to legal health care that is safe. Regulations and restrictions that women face in regards to their reproductive rights is also outlawed within this act (#Actforwomen,
It is prohibited to ban an abortion before or after fetal viability when it is deemed dangerous to the woman to continue the pregnancy. There should also be no limit to when the women can seek an abortion when it poses a risk. Lastly there should not be an obligation to the woman seeking an abortion to discuss her reasoning with a health professional (113th Congress, 2013).
Bill’s Sponsors The Women’s Health Protection Act was originally introduced on November 13, 2014 by Senator Richard Blumenthal; he was joined by Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. Along with the Senators were Representatives Judy Chu of California, Marcia Fudge of Ohio, and Lois Frankel of Florida (Women’s health protection act, 2013). According to 113th Congress (2015), the act has 35 additional cosponsors. The bill originally died in 2013, but was re-introduced in 2014, and most recently on January 21, 2015 (#Actforwomen, 2015). Marcotte (2014), reports that the supporters of this bill consist of Democrats and states that Republicans do not support this bill. It is believed by Republicans, that women should not have the same right to make decisions about their health as men do (Marcotte,